While it seems as if a return to New Orleans is inevitable, he hasn't signed a deal with the Saints just yet.

Monday's deadline isn't that big of a deal, really. This leaves a window for other teams to contact Brees.

One of the most prized free agents in the National Football League this year is starting to see teams step up.

But Wednesday is a serious deadline not only because Brees will be free to sign elsewhere.

Brees re-structured his contract to cut a cap hit in 2016 almost in half, pro-rating a signing bonus of $18 million over three years, starting in 2018. The Saints obviously would prefer to work out a new contract before then, allowing them to spread out Brees' cap costs into future years.

Still, it's not all surprising that this deal is coming down to the wire.

Much of this remains hypothetical, and the most likely result is still Brees signing with the Saints.

When it finally does get done, chances are Brees' contract will look an very bad lot like that last extension he signed just four days before the 2016 season opener.

Drafted out of Northwestern in the seventh round of the Saints' pivotal 2006 class, Strief spent five years as a backup tackle before ascending to the starter's role and becoming one of the locker room's enduring figures, a leader in the offensive line room and a standout player at right tackle.

"Drew Brees has been the single greatest motivation for me as a player", Strief said. You took a chance on me when no one else would.

"My greatest drive as a player was not to let you down", Strief told Brees.

That willingness to play one year at a time has been Brees' version of a hometown discount.